A Fool Act at God: Rhea

     The sterile, white lab was quiet. What was she talking about? The lab was always quiet. Since she had come back to work from her break, they had not seen fit to replace the colleagues she had lost. This was both a curse and a blessing. They were forcing the same workload on her the three of them had done but the upside was she would still take her time on it which slowed them down with their progress. Since she was stationed at the genetic department still, they were still dependant on her research for them to move further.
     In her spare time or during some of her lunch breaks, she would do as much as possible to sabotage her own work and search for answers to her never ending list of questions. Today was no different. With ten minutes left for her lunch, she was back in the eerily silent lab trying to gather information.
     “Jeremy Bohwa,” she said to herself while she typed the name into the computer. An error message flashed red on the screen once or twice. “Restricted file!” she called out in exasperation and came close to hitting the keyboard with her fists.
     Two months ago she was reunited with Veolce, one of her colleagues. Five months before that, he and their friend Oas had gone missing. She was interrogated on her return to work about Veolce. She found it rather odd that no one would speak of Oas, and they didn’t answer her questions either when she brought him up.

     “We appreciate you coming in like this Ms. Chambers. A few quick questions and you can return to your work.”
     “Why was I called in here?” the brown-haired woman asked. It was a surprise to be called to talk to this person.
     “I think you know why,” Synthia Zeint, the head of Genesis, told her. “It concerns a certain person you know. Mr. Iavruun.”
     “Ryan? What is this about? And where is he?”
     “That’s what we would like to know.”
     Vicky looked at her a little confused. If they didn’t know where he was, then something must be up.
     “You see,” she said as he rose from her chair and turned her back to Vicky. “A short while ago, during your absence, he went AWOL and deserted this facility. Shortly before he did this, he was infected with a GELF gene he was working on and killed several employees in an attempt to flee.”
     “I don’t believe you,” she told her defiantly.
     “We are now trying to secure him for the safety of the public and himself. With him contained here, we can study his DNA and discover what secrets this strand holds.”
     “I don’t believe you!” she exclaimed more fiercely. The chair scrapped across the floor as she rose to lean across the table.
     “Tell us where he is!” Synthia demanded her. She was leaning on the table as well, staring her directly in the eyes.
     Neither one of them backed down. They stared at each other for some time before Vicky calmed herself and slowly sat back down.
     “As you said yourself,” she told her matter-of-factly. “I was away during that time. I don’t know any more about him than you do.”
     “You knew him more than anyone else at the facility. You would know where he would go if he was to run.”
     “I knew him through work and that’s it. If you want immediate results, you should ask Jeremy.”
     Synthia remained silent for a little before telling Vicky she could leave. “Thank you for your time Ms. Chambers. If we have any further questions, we’ll contact you once more.”
     This left Vicky a little perplexed.
     “Where is Jeremy?” she demanded of her. Her silence to the matter when she brought him up was not comforting.
     “You may go now Vicky. That is all for today.”

     She had walked out that day, away from that arrogant pig-head and regretted it ever since. They had not seen it fit to call her back in for more questioning because of her prying into Jeremy. After asking around and finding no one was going to give her any information on him, she took it into her own hands to try and hack the company’s computers for what she needed.
     Veolce was a different matter. Former friends of his and old assistants were quite ready to give her gruesome detail of the night of his “rampage”. With the details changing each time they told the story, she had grown to disregard anything they said. Only one fact remained to hold true in everyone’s descriptions; he had definitely gone berserk, killing many in his escape.

     “Did you hear what happened?” asked a female scientist in the break room. “They say that Ryan was infected with the gene.”
     Vicky grabbed the soda she had just bought out of the dispense tray and stood up straight. She popped the tab absentmindedly while she listened to the conversation.
     “That can’t be true,” the man who sat with her said. “I’ve seen him work. He takes the utmost caution when he handles those samples.”
     “But what about that breakout about two week ago? Ever since then, he and Jeremy haven’t been seen.”
     “I heard about that,” piped in another woman. “They apparently caught a rogue lizard GELF and brought them in. Something happened though and he broke out. They say that he killed Jeremy and a few others when he made his escape.”
     Vicky nearly choked on her soda. She stifled a coughing fit to hear the rest of their conversation.
     “I heard some higher ups talking it,” the man butted back in. “They said Ryan was discharged from overworking himself and Jeremy was transferred to another location. How do you explain that?” he asked the first female.
     “Who are you going to believe?” she asked right back. “The higher ups who cover everything or people who were there when it happened?”
     “There hasn’t been anyone talking about it who was there. No one I’ve heard from was actually there. And neither have you.”
     Vicky turned away from the argument and walked out of the break room. These were the normal rumors circulating the building. It got to the point where you couldn’t believe any of them. She knew that she would have to find the answers herself if she wanted to know the truth.

     The keys on the keyboard were now flying away as Vicky pressed for more information. She tried various access points and different passwords to no avail. With each flashing red error message, she grew more infuriated. It seemed that they had thought of everything when they sealed away his records and almost completely erased any trace that he had worked there.
     It was a good deal of time after those days of worry and speculation that she was given the chance to actually talk to this so-called monster. It was to her shock to find that many of stories had been correct. But from that conversation and another rumor circulating the office, she held out hope for Jeremy. It may have seemed futile, but to her, she had to hold on to that. And given the history of the company and how well they could hide things, she knew better than to believe he was dead without proof of a body.

     “I’ve been making no headway with my findings.” Vicky was walking down a hall of the GELF hideout with Veolce. “I can’t find a single document that said he was even there.”
     “You shouldn’t bother then,” he said flat out, his tail swishing behind them as they walked on. “I’m fairly certain of what I saw before I left.”
     “When are you going to stop beating yourself up about that?” she looked up into his sorrowful eyes. “You should trust in a woman’s intuition. And I’m fairly certain that they’re hiding something about him.”
     “If you say so then.” Veolce hung his head slightly and looked at his right arm where the straps were.
     Vicky noticed him and stopped in the middle of the hall. “You’ve got to take those things off. They only make you more depressed. Come on. Give ‘em here.” She reached out and grabbed his arm, taking a hold of the one around his wrist.
     Veolce tried to free his arm from her grasp while she held on and went with his body motions. During the play tug of war match, smiles crossed their lips. Veolce put a hand on hers and came to a stop. Vicky did so as well and looked up into his eyes.
     “You always know how to make me feel better. What would I do without you?”
     “You’d pity party all day and not help those in need.” Vicky said with a smile on her face.
     “True. I just want to let you know that-”
     “Bonzai!” came a shout from nearby. Before Veolce could turn and see what was happening, Jack had landed on his head, his monkey tail obstructing the older man’s view. Just as quickly as he appeared, Jack used Veolce’s head as a springboard to gain better distance and took off down that hall.
     Vicky stepped back as a few kids came running along. Shortly after them came Pynn.
     “Sorry about Veolce. He gets a bit excited at times.”
     “He’s done this before,” Veolce commented while rubbing his head. They watched the group disappear down the hall until they turned a corner and went out of sight.
     “Never a dull moment around here huh?”
     “For the halls at least. The lab is pretty calm since no kids are allowed.”
     “It’s still a better atmosphere than at Genesis. It’s deadly quiet there.”
     “Why don’t you quit and move in here then? I’d feel better knowing you were safe.”
     “I can’t do that just yet,” she told him matter-of-factly. “After I finish my personal business there, I might. We’ll just have to see about things.”
     “Okay,” he said, still looking concerned for her.
     “Don’t worry,” she said, placing a hand on his cheek. “I’ll be fine.”
     “Even so.” Veolce reached into his pocket. He took her left hand in his. “I want you to take this with you. If you ever come across trouble or are in need of help, activate this and it’ll notify us. I’ll come running as quick as possible.”
     Vicky took the device. “Are you doubting me?” she asked with a feigned hurt expression.
     “I just know what type of people they are. I was there when Synthia started all this up.” He sighed to gather himself once again. “Just promise me, okay?”
     Vicky smiled and leaned up to kiss him. A little taken aback, Veolce didn’t know what to do at first but soon leaned into it. Despite the fact that this is what both of them wanted, it still felt a little odd between them.
     She broke away and let her hand fall down his chest.
     “Don’t worry,” she repeated herself once again as she walked off. “I’ll be fine.”

     “What are you doing Ms. Chambers?”
     Vicky jumped. She was too heavily focused on her work that she didn’t notice that someone had walked in. She quickly hid any evidence of what she was doing and turned to the person behind her.
     “I’m just working on the latest assignment you’ve given me.”
     The man stepped wordlessly into the lab and closed the door behind him.
     “Don’t think that your actions go unnoticed.” He crossed the room toward her. Along the way he absently picked up a scalpel and began to twirl it in his hand.
     “I-I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” she faltered.
     “Your prying, eavesdropping, tampering,” he motioned to the computer. “What you’re doing right now.”
     Vicky gulped visibly. If they knew that much, what else did they know about?
     The scientist stopped before her and glared down at her, still spinning the blade. Vicky could do nothing but look up at him. Time seemed to stretch on without either of them uttering a word.
     Without prompt or word, the man swiftly rose his arm. In another quick movement, he brought it down and aimed the scalpel at her.
     Vicky shrieked in terror and covered her eyes with her hands, her body tightening to prepare for the strike. Then she heard a slight thud.
     She lowered a hand a little to look at the desk where the computer sat. Swaying back and forth with the blade embedded halfway was the scalpel. She looked toward the door as the man was walking out.
     He opened the door and stopped with his back still facing her. “You’ve been warned Ms. Chambers. Cease any further prying and we’ll overlook all this.” With that, he walked out and closed the down behind him.
     Still shaken up by the scare, Vicky turned to her desk where her computer was. Swaying back and forth with the blade embedded halfway into the wood was the scalpel. She tried to remove it but the blade snapped from her efforts. With a sigh, she threw it down on the desk where it clattered in the silence.
     She turned to her computer then and looked at the screen. One of the screens she had been looking through was minimized to the tray. She clicked on it and saw the red error message that had been the product of her latest attempt. With another defeated sigh, she closed the window and rose from her chair. Not wanting to deal with the lab for right now, she made her way out of the door and set off to be somewhere else.
----
     It was later in the evening, with the sun slowly setting in the horizon, when Vicky made her way back into the lab. Since she was behind in her research and her progress was slow, she was required to work extra hours each day. She slowly opened the door and flipped on the lights to the sterile room. What she wasn’t expecting was the little note waiting for her on the first workstation.
     “Project Rhea. Password: plantae” was all that it said.
     She had no idea who it could have been from or who actually knew what she was looking into. She studied the note for a few minutes, trying to look out the glass walls for any sign as to who could have left it. Not wanting to waste any more time, she hurried to her computer and accessed the Genesis database. She entered the project name and when prompted for the password, she entered it.
     To her surprise, it actually worked. Various windows popped up displaying the information the project was covering. The implanting of modified plant DNA into a human life form. The new DNA was to create the ultimate soldier by combining different regenerating plants into a single strand to be injected into a test subject. The person exposed to this was able to conceal itself in a human environment by changing its pigments when necessary. The need for food would no longer be an issue for the subject only needed water and to sunbath to stay alive.
     Vicky became engrossed with all the information presented to her. She quickly threw in a disk to copy all the data for the GELF computers to analyze. She pressed for more info. The data had revealed that they had already obtained a subject for the experiment and she wanted to figure out who it was. Frantically she searched until she found the right document. It displayed  the stasis tank the person was housed in and how they were keeping them alive, the various injection they had already received, and finally what all was left for their research. She clicked for the next page and gasped audibly as the subject’s personal data and condition was displayed.
     Just then the lights to the lab went out and Vicky spun around to face the door. She stood slowly from her chair and placed herself in front of the tower.
     “We told you not to pry,” said the black-haired man from before as the door slowly shut behind him.
     Vicky fumbled dumbly for the eject button for the disk’s port. The man started making his way across the room.
     “You couldn’t let well enough alone. You had to keep pushing until we had to take measures to secure the safety of this operation.”
     She found the button and pushed it in. Slowly she grabbed the disk and shoved it up the sleeve of her left arm. She then made a move for her right pocket as he stopped in front of her.
     “You know I have no say so in this matter,” he told her, withdrawing something from his lab coat. “I follow the orders that are given to me.” Without another word, his arm shot forward.
     All Vicky knew was that there was a sharp pain her abdomen. She clutched at it and, feeling what it was, looked down at the needle. She removed it with her left hand and let it fall to the floor. With her right, she reached in her pocket and activated the device Veolce had given her before she too fell to the floor. The last thing she saw was the scientist’s boot as her vision faded away.
----
     The alarms and red lights were never a good sign for the base. It meant there was trouble. And that meant that Genesis was involved.
     “Status!” Erika called as she charged into the room.
     “A distress signal from within Genesis, ma’am,” responded a GELF seated at a monitor.
     “Which one of ours is it?”
     “It seems to be one of the latest issued,” replied another.
     Erika thought briefly and recalled one of her last conversations about the devices.
     “Put me in touch with the genetics lab,” she ordered, picking up her phone.
     There was a slight pause as the transfer was being made.
     “Amy here,” came the female voice over the line.
     “Give me Ryan,” she told her without reason.
     “It’s for you,” sounded Amy’s voice from a distance. “It sounds urgent.”
     “Veolce speaking,” came the new voice. It hinted that he was ready for the news he was about to be delivered.
     “It’s Vicky,” she told him, getting straight to the point. “Something’s happened to her.”
----
     Gunfire sounded outside the room. The guards stationed there readied themselves for the intruders that had stormed into the building. A thundering noise approached the door quickly. Unable to determine what it was, they were not prepared for what happened.
     With a loud crash, the door was flown off its hinges and hurled at the guards. Erika calmly walked into the room as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred and quickly sought out the men. Veolce came in behind her as she swiped the cardkey taken from one of the guards. The door swung open and Veolce rushed in.
     Vicky was laying on the bed, the only piece of furniture in the cell. She looked kind of sickly with beads of sweat standing on her forehead to indicate a fever. Her skin seemed to be darker in color since the last time he saw her and he knew that it wasn’t from spending time in the sun.
     He bent down to pick her and cradled her in his arms. Currently passed out from the drug that was mixed into the syringe, Vicky’s head lolled to the right and her eyes squinted in pain from the movement.
     “The target has been rescued,” Erika called into a walkie-talkie. “Regroup at the check point and fall back.”
     Veolce hurried form the cell and out the door with Erika following behind to block any attack from the rear. The trek through building was laborious with the guards filing in on each floor to cut off their escape. Once they were finally out, Veolce laid Vicky down in the backseat of one of their cars and put her head in his lap.
     As they sped away to distance themselves from the lab, Vicky began to stir. Her head moved to let her get a sense of her surroundings before her eyes were able to focus on her savior.
     “Veolce…?” she asked dryly.
     “Shh. Save your breath.”
     She slowly moved despite his wishes and dug the disk out of her sleeve and handed it to him.
     “What is this?” he asked her.
     “Their latest project,” she told him, her eyes focused on his. “It’s very important you look at it. It has answers.”
     “Answers?” he said a little confused. “Answers about what?” But the answer that she gave him was unexpected and hit him as if Erika had charged him.
     “They have Jeremy.”